If you've been here before then you know yesterday I made a promise to you, and to me, to chronicle my journey to opening a law firm in much more detail than I had originally been doing. I am doing this both for you and for me. I'm doing it for you so you can have some real inside information, some real meat to work with, when opening your own law firm (although you are going to have to go it one day at a time with me), and so I can chronicle my experience to look back on later and let my family know what is going on (my wife and mother get emails of these posts automatically - my wife wasn't pleased with Jim McLovin as a pen name!). Maybe some day I'll make this into a book that people can actually use to open a law firm (not that the other books aren't bad, but the fluff is almost unbearable).
Okay, on to what I did today to start a law firm. First things first, right now, more than anything, I'm trying to find out what this is going to cost. As many of you have been googling to get here, what my law firm budget will be. The more I have thought about it, the more I have realized opening a law firm on a shoe string budget is possible, and might even be desirable in most cases. First, it gets you focused on what you really need, and second, when you actually get up and running it allows a lot of the money you make to go directly into your pocket, instead of your vendor's, landlord's, etc. pocket. Although I am here to help people, making a little money would be nice.
So, how to find out what your law firm expenses will be. There many ways, but two I could think of right away. The first is to look in one of those how to start a law firm books. They have a laundry list of things you just have to have to open a great law office. The second is to ask someone that has done it recently to see what you actually need, what they bought and never use, what they didn't buy and wished they'd had right away, and what everyone knows is essential. For example, we all need several things to run a law firm: a printer; a computer; business cards, malpractice insurance (most states make you have it); a bank account; an IOLTA account; at least one presentable suit; a legal research database; an internet connection; and some place to work. And in the end, that may be it.
So, today I asked. I am lucky enough to know a couple of people that just recently opened a law practice, one even in the same city as me. So I just sent out an email asking if I could talk to them. I have lunch with the one where I am next week, and the other one I'm supposed to have a conversation with this week. I'll let you know then what I find out.
In addition to determining my expenses, I'm revising my business plan. Not a lot has changed necessarily since the last time I wrote it but at the same time a lot has. What I'm trying to say is now that the opening date is actually within site (I wrote my business plan months ago) I can see how much additional detail and thought is needed to make sure I am going in the right direction. So today I wrote my company summary. It only took about twenty minutes, but I feel like it is already a lot more focused than it originally was.
The last thing I did today related to opening the law firm (I do have other things working on the side, kind of a passive income type of a thing) was to write a post on my Seattle DUI lawyer blog. It hasn't actually been posted yet, so don't go out there and try to find it. But I need to get a bunch of posts ready so I have a lot of material to just throw up every day and I can focus on making links to the site (if you don't know much about marketing your law firm, read the last few posts, I talk a lot about how to get your law firm website ranking high on Google and how to get quality backlinks to your law firm website). It only takes about 20-30 minutes to do a post, and I guarantee you it will pay off huge when you get your blog indexed in Google and then link it to your website (do it in this order for the best results).
That was about it for today. Tomorrow I'm going to try to put together a couple more blog posts (I have several blogs set up to link to my eventual web site), continue to put together some financial projections (part of what I'll be asking my going solo buddies is how much money I can expect to make throughout the first year of my practice), and think about the office set up I want (procedure wise).
Good luck, and talk to you tomorrow!!
Update - 10/07/09: I'm now about 4 months into my law firm business actually being up and running, and I have some financials I'm going to share with you to help you out as you begin your journey. I don't have them ready yet, because I have too much other stuff going on, but I'll get them together soon so you can have an idea of what you'll be facing when opening your practice.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Starting a Law Firm | The Big Picture
It has been quite some time since I've posted on here, and with good reason. Not much has been going on. If you've read any of my previous posts, you'd know that I recently moved from Kansas to Washington state because my wife had the opportunity to take a great job. Because we were moving out there and starting anew, I thought it would be the perfect time to take the shot to start my own law practice.
My wife moved out to Seattle in mid-July of last year, and I moved out in November, after finishing up some work at my old job (which included a jury trial which I won!). Once I got out to Seattle, I had plans of opening up a little consulting company to pass the time until I could get my bar exam results (I ended up having to take the WA bar exam - my third bar exam if you can believe that), but a strategic error has significantly slowed the progress of that consulting company.
So right now I am about five weeks away from (hopefully) getting my WA law license and opening up my own practice.
As a little background, to catch all of you up that may or may not be reading, I have been practicing for a little over 4 years now, and have a pretty wide range of experience. I started out in a general practice firm doing a little of everything, with an emphasis on criminal defense and personal injury/civil litigation. It was in a very small town which afforded me great experience but little in the way of pay. So after a year I took a job with a civil litigation boutique firm (insurance defense primarily) and worked there for about six months until the firm itself seemed to reach financial ruin (the work really dried up).
After that I took a job with a state agency, becoming their property attorney, with a large focus on eminent domain. I worked there for about a year and a half before moving out to Seattle. So I have a little bit of background in a lot of stuff.
One of the things I enjoyed about my first and last jobs was the variety of cases and people I had the opportunity to meet. Not really ever knowing what is going to happen is both scary and exciting at the same time. Because of that, I have planned on having a dual "specialty," if you will, in eminent domain and criminal defense.
Both are related in that courtroom experience is a must, and both involve high stakes negotiation (one for the sale or taking of someone's property, the other for the loss of someone's liberty). And both are also related because in a way both parties are fighting steep odds to retain something they care about. I'm not saying that all state agencies try to take property for less than what it's worth, or that prosecutor's try to get the maximum punishment all the time. But they do get it wrong. A lot. So I feel like I can be that someone that looks out for their rights and needs, and isn't afraid to take a little heat.
Now, back to this. I've read a lot of books on starting a law firm. I've read a lot of blogs on starting a law firm. And, while some have been pretty helpful, none really get to the level of specificity that I'm looking for.
I'd love to have a play by play at my disposal of what happens every day leading up to the opening of a law firm, from decision to doors open, to help really guide me through what needs to happen, what works and doesn't, and what pitfalls to avoid.
Since I don't really think one of those exists out there, I'm going to make one for the next round of attorneys who want to start a law firm but have no idea how. I won't be trying to sell you anything (although I will let you know where I get my products from). The point of this is not to make money, but to chronicle my journey moving forward and to allow you to see what it actually takes to open a law office on your own.
Here's to moving forward!!
My wife moved out to Seattle in mid-July of last year, and I moved out in November, after finishing up some work at my old job (which included a jury trial which I won!). Once I got out to Seattle, I had plans of opening up a little consulting company to pass the time until I could get my bar exam results (I ended up having to take the WA bar exam - my third bar exam if you can believe that), but a strategic error has significantly slowed the progress of that consulting company.
So right now I am about five weeks away from (hopefully) getting my WA law license and opening up my own practice.
As a little background, to catch all of you up that may or may not be reading, I have been practicing for a little over 4 years now, and have a pretty wide range of experience. I started out in a general practice firm doing a little of everything, with an emphasis on criminal defense and personal injury/civil litigation. It was in a very small town which afforded me great experience but little in the way of pay. So after a year I took a job with a civil litigation boutique firm (insurance defense primarily) and worked there for about six months until the firm itself seemed to reach financial ruin (the work really dried up).
After that I took a job with a state agency, becoming their property attorney, with a large focus on eminent domain. I worked there for about a year and a half before moving out to Seattle. So I have a little bit of background in a lot of stuff.
One of the things I enjoyed about my first and last jobs was the variety of cases and people I had the opportunity to meet. Not really ever knowing what is going to happen is both scary and exciting at the same time. Because of that, I have planned on having a dual "specialty," if you will, in eminent domain and criminal defense.
Both are related in that courtroom experience is a must, and both involve high stakes negotiation (one for the sale or taking of someone's property, the other for the loss of someone's liberty). And both are also related because in a way both parties are fighting steep odds to retain something they care about. I'm not saying that all state agencies try to take property for less than what it's worth, or that prosecutor's try to get the maximum punishment all the time. But they do get it wrong. A lot. So I feel like I can be that someone that looks out for their rights and needs, and isn't afraid to take a little heat.
Now, back to this. I've read a lot of books on starting a law firm. I've read a lot of blogs on starting a law firm. And, while some have been pretty helpful, none really get to the level of specificity that I'm looking for.
I'd love to have a play by play at my disposal of what happens every day leading up to the opening of a law firm, from decision to doors open, to help really guide me through what needs to happen, what works and doesn't, and what pitfalls to avoid.
Since I don't really think one of those exists out there, I'm going to make one for the next round of attorneys who want to start a law firm but have no idea how. I won't be trying to sell you anything (although I will let you know where I get my products from). The point of this is not to make money, but to chronicle my journey moving forward and to allow you to see what it actually takes to open a law office on your own.
Here's to moving forward!!
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